Quote: PhQnix @ November 27 2008, 12:59 PM GMTDo people really aspire to be of a certain 'class?' I mean really?
Historically of course class was very real concept, and it is a staple of sitcoms, but in real life I have only encountered the peculiar snobbery of social aspiration among people who would now be in their sixties or older. I think we have become much more like America, with wealth defining social status rather than background, occupation or manners.
Quote: Marc P @ November 27 2008, 1:08 PM GMTI've just been for a big fry up so am confused what class I am now.
When you're eating that kind of food, it doesn't matter. <3
Quote: Aaron @ November 27 2008, 1:05 PM GMTYes.
So how do you define class?
Quote: Timbo @ November 27 2008, 1:08 PM GMTHistorically of course class was very real concept, and it is a staple of sitcoms, but in real life I have only encountered the peculiar snobbery of social aspiration among people who would now be in their sixties or older. I think we have become much more like America, with wealth defining social status rather than background, occupation or manners.
Ah. Okay. So it exists but is defined by wealth?
Bear with me people, I'm 17, the idea of class doesn't mean much more to me than 'class conflict.'
Quote: Griff @ November 27 2008, 1:10 PM GMTDid you stick your little finger out while drinking your mug of monkey tea?
I did ask for my monkey tea in a mug which is what I got but they put it on a saucer just so as I'd know.
Little herby chippolata sausages, local eggs, thick fresh toast, buttered mushrooms, local black pudding and bacon, heinz beans. Seven fifty. Very nice indeed!
Quote: PhQnix @ November 27 2008, 1:15 PM GMTSo how do you define class?
I don't think that there is a single, simple definition of class, nor any clear set of criteria for each class. Different aspects are indicative and symptomatic of others (e.g. the area in which one lives is linked to one's wealth).
Quote: Griff @ November 27 2008, 1:20 PM GMTYou'll be pleased to know you're lower middle class.
Working class people wouldn't put up with "little herby" sausages, while middle class people would know how to spell chipolata.
Hahhaha! 
Quote: Griff @ November 27 2008, 1:20 PM GMTYou'll be pleased to know you're lower middle class.
Working class people wouldn't put up with "little herby" sausages, while middle class people would know how to spell chipolata.
Where you wearing high visibilty clothing Marc? That may reduce your grading even further
Quote: Griff @ November 27 2008, 1:20 PM GMTYou'll be pleased to know you're lower middle class.
Working class people wouldn't put up with "little herby" sausages, while middle class people would know how to spell chipolata.
I know how to spell it but my fingers would shudder if I tried to type that particular word!
Quote: Griff @ November 27 2008, 1:14 PM GMTI'm not sure. Just listen to any Radio Four comedy. They're obsessed with class. 6.30 every night there's always a gag about how the proles love shopping at Lidl, or eating burgers. While the middle class all drive 4x4s and eat organic tofu etc. And of course the amazing nightly revelation that "gays love musicals".
Plus if you watch Frasier, it's a minute dissection of class differences, usually indicated by tastes and habits rather than money.
I am not sure Radio 4 is a reflection of modern British society, but you have a point about the universally despised chav; but that is closer to the US concept of white trash than to the traditional British idea of the 'working class'.
Frasier has always struck me as an odd show; are the Crane brothers representative of a social stratum as such, any more than say the Ewings or the Bushes? The US has always to me seemed to be summed up by the old retort, "If you're so smart why aren't you rich?"
How did they come up with these titles? Surely if you have to work for a living you are working class?
Working class - workers
Middle class - managers
Upper class - landowners
Etc.
Quote: Aaron @ November 27 2008, 1:42 PM GMTWorking class - workers
Middle class - managers
Upper class - landownersEtc.
The class system is all a load of old gash though isn't it? It just doesn't apply these days.
I was brought up in a poor working class house on a Middlesbrough council estate, my Dad was a labourer and my Mum was a dinnerlady. So that makes me working class. Or does it? I live on a private housing estate and most of my neighbours are white middle class people in management jobs. Most of my friends / professional acquaintances are people in good jobs with their own houses. So what am I? Upper-Working Class? Lower-Middle Class?
It's all crap.
A doctor who failed to spot Baby P's broken ribs and back during an examination has been suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC).
Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat missed the injuries days before the 17-month-old boy died in a blood-splattered cot following abuse from his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger Jason Owen.
The GMC said its Interim Orders Panel had decided to suspend Dr Al-Zayyat's registration.
"Investigations are ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage," it said.
Update from original story.
Quote: Lee Henman @ November 27 2008, 1:55 PM GMTThe class system is all a load of old gash though isn't it? It just doesn't apply these days.
I was brought up in a poor working class house on a Middlesbrough council estate, my Dad was a labourer and my Mum was a dinnerlady. So that makes me working class. Or does it? I live on a private housing estate and most of my neighbours are white middle class people in management jobs. Most of my friends / professional acquaintances are people in good jobs with their own houses. So what am I? Upper-Working Class? Lower-Middle Class?
Middle class.
Quote: Lee Henman @ November 27 2008, 1:55 PM GMTThe class system is all a load of old gash though isn't it? It just doesn't apply these days.
It's all crap.
Correct, a load of horseshit. Real,fresh solid manure.
Quote: Lee Henman @ November 27 2008, 1:55 PM GMTI was brought up in a poor working class house on a Middlesbrough council estate, my Dad was a labourer and my Mum was a dinnerlady. So that makes me working class. Or does it? I live on a private housing estate and most of my neighbours are white middle class people in management jobs. Most of my friends / professional acquaintances are people in good jobs with their own houses. So what am I? Upper-Working Class? Lower-Middle Class?
You're middle-class. You've moved up the ladder. Well done, Lee. 